Day 2 of 5: New Zealand 132 (C de Grandhomme 42, M Potts 4-13, J Anderson 4-66) & 236-4 (D Mitchell 97no, T Blundell 90no; M Potts 2-50) lead England 141 (Z Crawley 43; T Southee 4-55, T Boult 3-21) by 227 runs
You have to go back to 1888, the days of WG Grace and the summer when Jack the Ripper was terrorising London’s East End, for the only two-day Test match at Lord’s. This is the 139th Test at the ground since Percy McDonnell’s Australians beat England by 61 runs and for a good while it looked like a second quickfire affair was in the offing.
England’s first innings had fizzled away in the morning, albeit with just enough tail-end fiddling to turn 116 for seven into 141 all out and a lead of nine runs.
New Zealand’s top order was then once again vaporised to leave the tourists wobbling after lunch, with the demise of Devon Conway, a double centurion here last year, making it 56 for four.
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Matt Potts had continued his impressive debut, knocking over Kane Williamson for the second time in the match when a back-foot punch flew to slip and nicking off his deputy, Tom Latham.
Jimmy Anderson had again winkled out Will Young in classical Anderson fashion, while Broad similarly made it a double against Conway via a strangle down leg.
But in a match where the gate in front of the old pavilion had barely stayed shut for any extended periods – two first-innings totals under 150 were registered in a Test on these shores for the first time since 1954 – England needed events to remain in fast forward to overcome their ruinous collapse of five for eight the previous evening.
Instead, a partnership of substance finally broke out, with two seasoned pros in Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell getting their heads down impressively with an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 180 across 56.1 overs that saw the crowd thin out significantly by the close when the tourists had reached 236 for four from 79 overs.
Mitchell had handsomely played his way to 97 from 188 balls, driving the final delivery of the day from Potts to the boundary, Blundell likewise for his 90 from 182.
Both men will start out looking to become the latest Kiwi names on the honours board and, should they get there, it will be seriously well earned.
More pressing for England and their new captain, Ben Stokes, is a lead that currently sits at 227 runs. With Colin de Grandhomme still to come for their visitors, plus two lower order players who enjoy giving it the long handle in Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee, the second new ball must do some serious damage first thing.
The last time England played a two-day Test match was the day-night affair in Ahmedabad last year, a match which prompted a good deal of harrumphing about the pitch.
But the pink SG ball was in fact the chief culprit, its extra lacquer seeing identical deliveries from the spinners randomly grip or shoot straight to leave batters untrusting of their defences and playing a guessing game out in the middle.
Similarly here there have been factors beyond the 22-yards of earth rolled out by Irish head groundsman Karl McDermott and his groundstaff. For one, in a summer of gripes about the Dukes balls those selected here have swung.
And secondly, we are witnessing a home side low on confidence with the bat and opponents who were light on preparation and still adjusting to life after Ross Taylor and BJ Watling. Bowlers, by contrast, hit the ground running.
And unlike pitches that rag from the outset, surfaces that initially seam can also ease over time. With England’s attack also getting just 43 overs of respite between innings – as per ruddy usual, the old guard might well chunter – things finally began to calm down and resistance formed. The art of batting in Test cricket was not lost after all.
It was an excellent riposte from the tourists and turned this into the kind of second day one would expect from a Lord’s Test.
Mitchell got his chance here after a calf injury and Covid-19 left Henry Nicholls cursing his luck, while Blundell spent years acting as the understudy to Watling behind the stumps. Both might be said to have a point to prove, not that New Zealand’s cricketers appear to care for much beyond the team’s needs.
Blundell was first to his half-century from 101 balls, a square driven four off Potts sending a pigeon hurtling off to find pastures new much like the slip fielders who had begun to scatter. Mitchell was not far behind either, needing four fewer deliveries and a nudged single off Broad to reach this particular staging post.
Both right-handers played the percentages and scored at a similar tempo, Mitchell in unleashing some rasping drives and Blundell strong off his pads.
Beyond the probing threat of Anderson and Broad, the sparky Potts and the thunder of Ben Stokes, they also had a leg-spinner to contend with after Matt Parkinson’s race down the M6 on Thursday for an unexpected debut as England’s first ever concussion substitute.
Parkinson sent down 14 overs across three spells and Blundell, skittish with his footwork at first, appeared to be a stumping chance. But a couple of bludgeoned fours from the New Zealand wicketkeeper to end the first spell, and little assistance on offer for the latest English wrist-spinner generally, made it too soon for hard conclusions.
England fielded with the energy expected at the start of the summer and a new regime but as the day wore on, there was a creeping sense of the Test match getting fully away from them.
Last year they declined to chase 273 on the final day but this time around, even with rain forecast over the weekend, there is just so much time remaining.
Whatever the final equation, a significant challenge lies ahead and not least considering a New Zealand attack that has been refreshed by the efforts of Mitchell and Blundell, two cricketers for whom the day-three ticket holders should be grateful. – Guardian
